14 Days of Complications
by Ali Northman
Summary: A/H In 2 weeks Bella's world gets shaken up my a mysterious medical student interning in her office.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fic, be honest and gentle.

Song: Love doesn't last by The Weepies

It starts like any other work day, wake up, take the dog out, watch the weather (because you're a grown up now, and even though you still don't own an umbrella you want to have the knowledge), fix hair, wash face, brush teeth, apply make up, get dressed. Take the dog out again and smoke a cigarette while reading on your phone. Drive to work and hope the music you hear on the way to work dictates that today will be a great day.

This is my life. Boring, mundane, call it what you will. It's simple, and I like it that way. My hardest decisions at night are what I'm going to watch on Netflix or if I'm going to read. My name is Bella Swan, I'm 28 and this is the story that almost changed my life.

Jacob and I have been together forever. After living together for 6 years we got engaged. There was no romantic setting, no grand speech that brought tears to my eyes. He just came home from work one day and said "lets go buy you a ring" And that was that. Our parents were happy, we were happy. Not overly happy, just everyday go to work, pay bills, play with the dog happy. I never believed in fairy tale romances, and romantic movies would just aggravate me. I just wanted normal. Or so I thought. Until _him_.

Work was just work. I work in the billing department for a medical practice. I love my job because I am good at it. I hate all the papers that constantly cover my desk, but I love that I am able to just put on some headphones and not be bothered. The occasional patient calls asking questions about a bill or upcoming procedure I speak to them sweetly and get back to what I was doing before. I have scheduled smoke breaks that I take with my coworkers and my boss is my best friend. You can't ask for much more in a good job when you didn't finish college.

Monday.

We were having our morning smoke break when I first saw him. We smoke in the front parking lot, so we see a lot of patients, we used to try and sit on the curb in front of the cars to hide, but Id rather have someone see me that get ants in my pants (literally). The first thing I noticed was how tall he was, he was at least 6ft with dark hair that seemed to look like he just rolled out of bed. He leaned back into his silver car to get something when I noticed he was putting on a white lab coat. _A doctor_? I saw him as he turned around and I lost my breath for a second. His eyes were hidden behind these adorable Clark Kent type glasses and he had full lips. His face was the most perfect combination of baby face with manly angles. It made me wonder how old he was, but first "Who is that!" I asked my coworker. "Thats Dr Cullen's intern, a med student I think" she replied. My heart sunk a little. I have very little to do with Dr Cullen, or even that entire side of the office for that matter. I knew that I would have no reason to even see him, let a lone meet him. I fingered my engagement ring and thought 'it's not like he would notice you anyway', stubbed out my cigarette in the dirt and went back to work. Rosalie was in our office when I got back and I couldn't keep him out of my mind and I had to share. "I just saw the most beautiful man" I told her, sounding more like a high schooler than should be considered normal for my age. I proceeded to tell her about him while she just sat there smiling. Neither of us had any reason to be on that side of the office so we just let the story die there. It was in those moments after that I found myself smiling, thinking about some storybook romance where he sees me and finds me utterly beautiful, we converse and he loves my whit and he falls madly in love with me. I knew that none of this would actually ever happen anyway, but I was a little taken aback by the way I got chills and butterflies in my stomach over these thoughts.

It was 3 o'clock, that time in the afternoon where you start to get antsy and are tired of work but you still have so much to do. I got up to go mingle with Angela, she worked in the back of the office so I was pretty hidden to anyone that walked by. Although most people knew that if I wasn't in my office, I was outside smoking, or with Angela. As I was walking through the kitchen to her office I saw him. He was getting water and when I saw him I can honestly say I have no idea what my facial expressions did (they have a mind of their own, I take no responsibility) I recovered and said "hi" and I quickly walked past him. As i walked by I saw him smile out of the corner of my eye. I know my breathing hitched, in an audible tone of course, but I quickly rounded the corner and ducked into Angela's office. Of course, my face hides nothing so when she saw my panicked look she started giggling and asked what happened. I heard footsteps past her door so I flicked my eyes over to the door, assuming it was him and in a dramatic whisper I said "have you seen Cullen's new intern! He's devastatingly handsome with this fantastic nerdy glasses, ugh he's beautiful". Right when I finished with my dramatic sigh she looked at the door and giggled a little as she said "I think he just walked by" Kill. Me. Now. My face couldn't decided if it wanted to blush or just drain of color so I took my embarrassed self back to my own office. Telling myself the whole time that there was no way he could have head me, I was whispering. Oh god please don't let him have heard me.

I get home to the typical evening chores, dog, dishes, dinner. I expect the fleeting thoughts of Dr Handsome to fly out of my head when Jacob comes home. Despite any issues we may have, his smile always manages to calm me. Even if I'm angry at him, it seems to dissipate a little when I see his face. I find myself still thinking about that stranger. I realized at that moment, I didn't even know his name. I fall asleep holding onto Jacob, thinking about the mysterious beautiful man.

Tuesday

9:00 am smoke break and I find myself looking for his car.

A/N: Please let me know if this is worth continuing.


	2. Chapter 2

Song: Trouble's What You're in by Fink

Tuesday

9:00 am smoke break and I find myself looking for his car. Of course, he shows up, right on time. White coat, sexy nerd glasses and all. He barely glances our way as he makes his way towards the front entrance. But I can swear I see him staring at me in the reflection of the mirrored windows of the office as he walks in. 'Doubtful' I think to myself, and return to my usual discussion of tv and movies with my coworkers.

Tuesdays are generally slower work days. A chance to catch up from the Monday overflow, and call patients and politely tell them to pay their bills. Nothing exciting happens on Tuesdays.

A pharmaceutical rep was nice enough to buy lunch for the office, and when you work in an office with around 50 people, that's a rare treat. We have a lunch ritual, myself, Alice, Jasper, Rose and Emmett, we each take a day and cook lunch for the group. We get good meals this way, and it's cheaper than buying something everyday. However, when lunch is brought to us we take the opportunity to load up on salad and stealthily steal some extra utensils. So we all head to the conference room where the long table is lined with salads, pasta and some sort of chicken concoction in chafing dishes all above those burners that smell horrible. I make my way to stand in line when I notice the white coat in front of me. I freeze, he doesn't notice me, in fact I think he's talking to the rep while he loads his plate. Jasper, never letting anything slip past him puts his hand on my back and starts to push me forward, I'm so close I actually brush the white coat before I gather whats about to happen. I step to my left quickly turning around and mouthing 'what the hell are you doing?' to Jasper who just has this shit eating grin on his face. I step out of line and around the corner to regain my composure. I walk back to find Alice and Jasper still silently laughing at me. They let me back in line quickly and now there is another person in between me and Dr Delicious. Thank god. He's still talking to the rep when she speaks loudly asking us all to sign in. I load up on salad thinking the person in front of me will get her chicken and move on, however she is taking forever, sifting through each dish. So, since I don't want anything else, I step around her so I can sign in and get back to my desk. As I approach the end of the table I realize that he is still there talking to the rep. I avoid both of their gazes and I reach for the pen. I start signing my name and see that he signed in above me._ Edward Mason med student. _I heard Alice snicker beside me and I finally focus on whats going, I've written my name like a 3 year old. Great. "Ugh, I'm eating outside". I tell her, knowing that none of them will follow me. No one really likes ants crawling on the poor excuse for the picnic table while they try to eat, but today, I don't care. I figured I could read some more on my phone and listen to music.

Outside I pull out my earbuds turn up the volume to drowned out the squeaking birds and look for something to read on my phone. I'm about 5 chapters into some fiction that is far more interesting than my real life when I look up to see whats left on my plate, _holy shit_. What- Why- Dr Delicious is right across the table from me with this crooked smirk and amused eyes…. Holy hell, those eyes. Even behind the glasses they sparkled. I have no idea what color they were, they seemed to go from dark green around the edges to light. He cocks his head a little to the left and it dawns on me that I'm staring. I mentally go over my features… mouth, closed, eyes, not bugged out of my head. Phew. "Hi" I say as I take out my right earbud. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was anyone else out here". He laughed lightly as he said "I gathered" I've never been one to notice someones voice, but I felt like his words wrapped around me like some Harry Potter spell before they made it to my ears. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you listening to"? He asks. I take a deep breath, I almost hate these conversations. Most people stick to popular radio stations, so they never know what I'm talking about. "Fink" I reply, waiting for the confused look. It doesn't come, instead he smiles a little and says "What album"? This can't be for real. "Distance and time" "Favorite song'? "I show him my phone so he can see what I'm listening to and say "Little blue mailbox" He smiles and says "Blueberry Pancakes is my favorite song of all time" I can't help but giggle and tell him "It would be mine, but Jack Johnson took that with Banana Pancakes. I actually have a play list dedicated to songs about pancakes" "No way"! He laughed and I wondered if he was always this easy to amuse, because his laugh was fantastic. I handed over my iPhone so he could see my playlists. I couldn't help but stare at his hands, long, delicate fingers that made me nervous in that delicious way. Yum. As my eyes moved back towards his face I noticed the smirk he had. SHIT. What is wrong with my brain constantly being so far behind today. The titles of my playlists are not for the faint of heart. 'Sturbation' 'Fuck Songs' and 'Folk Off' were never meant to be seen by anyone, let alone this Adonis sitting across the table from me. I blush, and he seems totally amused by my squirming. He hands me back my phone and says "My name is Edward by the way" "Bella', I reply "nice to meet you. How long are you interning with Dr Cullen"? He shifts and straightens his posture. More like for an interview than for a conversation on an ant infested picnic table. "2 weeks, I started yesterday". How do you like it here so far"? "Well, I haven't really gotten a chance to get a good feel for the people but so far so good" I smiled "That's good, I'm glad to hear that. Well, I should get back in" I said, realizing I have an almost full plate of salad that has slowly started to wither in the heat. Great, now I'm going to be starving in a little while. "I'll see you around" I said as I slowly stood up, grabbing my plate and began to walk back in. "Bella wait," I turned around to see him standing behind me, his hand fisted in his hair "I uhm.. I don't know anyone around here and I uhm… or anything about the area for that matter and I, well I thought maybe you would like to have coffee with me or something"? Wait, did Dr Sexy Smirk just say 'uhm', twice? And coffee, with me? "Sure" I said, sounding like I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out of the tree. "How about today, this afternoon after work" What the hell! "Well, okay, I get off at 4:30 today" "Great, I'll see you then". I threw out my mostly untouched lunch and headed back to my office.

When I walked in, Alice, Jasper and Rosalie were all crammed in my office and turned around with knowing smiles. "I don't want to know what any of you did, and I don't want to talk about it" I said as I sat down in my chair. "Uh huh" They all replied in unison. Jasper's mouth of course, couldn't be stopped "Well, do you need to let Jacob know that you'll be home late"? I looked at him confused "How did.." Oh shit, brain, really, what the fuck? How is it even possible that the whole time it never crossed my mind that I'm engaged to be married to the man that lives in my house! They all laughed before Alice pipped up and said, "Don't worry he probably won't even notice, just tell him you were helping me with financial reports" It wasn't that they didn't like Jacob, they were always pleasant with him, and he was always friendly with them. They just didn't think that Jacob was right for me. They thought, oh who knows what they thought. I stopped asking years ago. "Yeah, your probably right" I said, realizing she was right. Jacob wouldn't even realize it. He would probably be home getting high and watching some terrible anime on tv. "I need a cigarette" I stated as I stood back up, totally frustrated and confused as to what just transpired. I called my coworker to come outside with me. I knew I couldn't tell her anything, I trust my friends, but I know everyone else can't help it that they are a bunch of twattling gossips. So I don't tell her anything, I just find comfort in nonsense conversation of movies and current events. For the rest of the afternoon I try to stay focused on work. Try not to look at the clock and realize I have 2 hours before I'm supposed to have coffee with this unbelievably gorgeous man. What the hell was I thinking agreeing to this. Is it considered cheating, it's just coffee. Do I want to cheat on Jacob? Well, we all have our thoughts but that's totally different from actually doing it. I agreed to coffee. Which means loads of caffeine. Which means I'm going to run my mouth at a seriously fast pace and probably end up saying stupid like "I refuse to go to doctors because one day I will be made vampire" Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?

3:30 comes and I make my way to Angela's office. I need to vent. But I'm not sure I want to tell anyone. If I say it out loud that makes it real. My head feels foggy, like I'm in a dream. This isn't my life. Things like this don't happen to me. As soon as I sit down in her office she knows something is off. "What happened? She asks, slightly laughing. "It's just been a weird day" I say, letting her believe that it was just a work related issue that I didn't really want to talk about. Instead of pursuing the issue she starts telling me funny stories about her two children. Just as I'm starting to relax she jumps out of her chair "It's 4 o'clock, I have to go get my crazy children". I froze, I didn't pay attention to anything she said after '4 o'clock' _I only have 30 minutes! _She's out of the office before I can even say goodbye. I contemplate staying hidden in the corner of her office but I know that would never work.

I got back to my office to find Alice in my chair. "Spill" she commanded. No matter how tiny she was, she still had the power to scare you. "He asked me to have coffee with him. Today. After work". "Oh Bella," She said, "Its just coffee, with the way you were acting, I thought he propositioned you on the picnic table. Just fix your hair, and go drink your over priced cup of milk and sugar." _If only it was that simple! _"Alice, he doesn't know I'm engaged, and I'm socially retarded. What the hell do I even talk to him about"? I asked as I was yanking the brush through my hair. "Listen", she said, in her motherly tone. I took a deep breath, preparing for the _believe in yourself_ speech. "Just shut up and have a good time"! Well, can't say I saw that coming. "Fine" I huffed "See you tomorrow". I started to walk to the other side of the office to meet him. He was standing at the front counter, leaned against it like he was James Dean. He gave me this crocked smile, and I was certain he could hear my heart pound at that moment. "Are you ready"?

In the parking lot he suggests that we take one car, _his_. We get in and I'm hit in the face with them smell, it's all Tommy Bahama and leather and I can't help the moan that escapes from my throat. I blush furiously and I can see his smirk out of the corner of my eyes. "So, where am I going" he asks, I don't even have to look at him to know he's still smiling. I give him directions to the nearest coffee shop and we back out. We ride in silence, listening to the Ben Harper CD he has playing.

Before we walk in he tells me to grab a table outside and he will go grab our drinks. I nod and walk over to a rather secluded table on the back side of the building. It's not that hot outside but the shade from the umbrella helps. I pull the cigarettes and cell phone from my purse and lay them on the table. It's habit, but I wonder if I should put them away. I don't realize how long I've been staring at them until I see the coffee cup placed in front of me. "So Bella, how was your day"? "Typical day, I suppose. How was your second day"? He smiles and tells me how much he loves it, how the older ladies always flirt with him and it makes him a little uncomfortable. We discuss how he came into this specialty and his plans for after school. He asks me about my job and I tell him stories of crazy patients and how working for your best friend makes it awesome and awkward at the same time. We laugh as we compare stories. He asks me where I'm from and I tell him about my childhood, divorced parents and holidays always being a schedule and the loneliness of being an only child. He tells me his, very similar story minus the divorced parents. "Sometimes I almost wish I had a troubled childhood, so I'd have something more interesting to say about growing up". At first I'm slightly appalled by this statement, who would wish such a thing, but when I think about it, I almost understand. We talked for what seemed liked hours about our favorite music, movies we hated and places we wanted to visit. I told him about my list of things to do before I turn 30 and he was shocked at the more simple things that I haven't done like ride in a limo or attend a midnight showing of a new movie. Before I knew it, the sun had set and I silently started to worry that I needed to get home before I raised suspicion. Then started to panic because the man in front of me still didn't seem to realize that I was engaged. I didn't think that anything inappropriate happened, but I still worried that this was information that he needed. Is it possible he hadn't noticed my ring? "I should probably get home" I said, trying not to make it obvious that I was a little panicked and that I really didn't want to be out of his company. "Bella", he says in this breathy voice, " I had a really nice time. It's not often that I get a chance to just relax with someone. So, thank you. Do you think maybe we could do it again? Coffee, I mean, it doesn't have to be coffee but…" "Okay" I reply, stopping him before he starts to ramble. "Tomorrow"? He asks with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, sure" I say, smiling, this is too unreal.

We drive back to the office in silence and he parks next to my truck. I briefly wonder how he knew it was mine until I realize it's the only vehicle left in the parking lot. He turns in his seat and looks at me. "I'm not going to kiss you" I blurt out. _What in the actual hell did I just say, why did I say that, why is he smirking at me? _"Bella",he says slightly smiling "I realize that you are with someone. That ring you wear makes it very obvious. But I'm drawn to you, I've enjoyed your company. Let's just enjoy the short time we have". Well, alright. That settles that, I guess. "Okay" I say. Something about this is almost unsettling, but I force a convincing smile. He smiles back, wider, and I'm dazzled by it, realizing the close proximity we are in. "I'll see you tomorrow Bella". I open the car door and over my shoulder manage to get out "yeah, see you tomorrow".

I hop into my truck and try to busy myself while he pulls out of the parking lot. God forbid he hears my truck backfire or some other embarrassing mishap. He pulls out onto the main road and I grab a cigarette. What the heck just happened. I start the drive home in silence. I need music. I plug in my phone and it starts to automatically play. I hear Finks words "_troubles what you're in" _and I immediately unplug my phone. Silence is better than relatable lyrics right now. I want to call someone and talk about this, but I can't think of what I would even say. So I just replay the day in my head. How did I go from almost being pushed into him in a lunch line to hearing him say he is drawn to me. Drawn to me? Let's enjoy the short time we have. _Stop. Thinking. Bella. Deep breath. It was just coffee. Let it go. Just get home, back to where your real life is and get to bed. _

I walk in the front door and I'm greeted by the happiest dog and the day fades in my mind and I scratch his belly and he licks my face. Jacob is asleep on the couch, the tv playing cartoons in the background. I take a quick shower. I wake up Jacob and tell him to come to bed. He crawls into bed with me and wraps his arms around me. He whispers I missed you today and kisses my back. I learn back into his embrace and remind myself _this is my life. This is what's real. _


End file.
